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I've been remembering more dreams lately. Some of them, I even remember long enough to post here.

In one dream, I was trying to find my way out of a huge shopping mall. I was remembering little aphorisms, one of which was all about the importance of the fourth floor. The exit, including a Metro exit (must've been Montréal), was in fact on the fourth floor. I guess my inner Discordian was asleep at the switch in picking the floor.

In another, I was talking to a doctor who told me that my heart was not working right and that I would not live past 60. That's some pretty slow heart disease, I guess, but I felt really crushed in the dream knowing that my life was half over.

In a third, the recurring test/course/whatever that graduated students all dream about missing, remembering and realizing that their graduation was null and void, all for the want of a French credit, had the academic thing replaced by a vet appointment.

Current Mood: weird
Current Location: J8Y 3E7
Crossposts: http://metawidget.livejournal.com/190225.html

This post is in reverse-to-random chronological order.

First, some promised Oscar pictures:

Oscar crawling out of the frame in our backyard

This one is gracing my desktop at work.

Oscar holding himself up on a bead toy

Here's a recent indoor one. He needs only a little hand contact with something sort of stable to stay upright.

Date night!

Last night, fairestcat came by, loaded us and Oscar up in her car, drove us all to Zen Kitchen, let us out, and kept going. She, random and the other people at fannish night took care of him for the night while Elizabeth and I got to have a fantastic meal and some time to ourselves without checking baby position constantly or worrying he'd wake up. Toward midnight, we were starting to miss Oscar (or at least wanting to put him to bed and call it a night), but it was definitely refreshing. We should definitely do that sooner than the eight months it took us to get around to that.

Raven’s Knoll work

Raven's Knoll, the campground that hosts Kaleidoscope Gathering among other pagan and pagan-ish happenings, is kept running in part on volunteer labour. The three of us went up with random on the weekend. Moving and stacking wood and brush was the main activity for random and me, and Elizabeth took care of Oscar and helped out in the kitchen. Working out there was fun both for the satisfaction of working (and stacking wood with proper ends on the stack — thanks, Dad, for teaching me that!) and for the universally pleasant company of the other workers. I was quite happy to get a better sense of Brendan, who led things and is there full-time keeping the place running.

Mum Update

Thursday and Friday, we headed up to my parents' place to see my mum and give my parents an Oscar fix. Mum's looking great and despite being a little out of breath occasionally, had lots of energy. Oscar also got to meet Jeannie the cleaning lady, who I think has been looking forward to meeting Oscar for about eight months now :)

Back to work

I went back to work on Monday. It was a little surprising how quickly work felt sort of normal to me; I guess it hasn't been that long. Most of Monday was spent getting things re-activated and catching up on what I was supposed to start work on, and yesterday and today were pretty meeting-heavy, but there looks to be imminent actual work, and a variety of it, with clients that I either know I like or get a good vibe from. I feel like it'll take a couple of weeks to say hi to all the people that make up the complete work experience, and thus be completely back, but I'm feeling good about the transition so far.

Pixel Update

Pixel had her stitches out yesterday, and looks much less scary and a bit happier today. I think she lost some weight when she was stressed and not eating in the cone, but not a scary amount as the vet weighed her and didn't worry. She's got a vaccine booster appointment in a month, if she's still skinny then we'll see what else needs doing. She was a little grimy looking after the cone for a while, but she's groomed herself back to her usual elegant coat.

Current Mood: sleepy
Current Location: J8Y 3E7
Crossposts: http://metawidget.livejournal.com/177283.html

con_girl and

foms dropped by after cyclist-spotting today, and in addition to being good company on a lazy Saturday afternoon, I think it was

con_girl that suggested that if anything would get a cat to drink fluids voluntarily, tuna water was a pretty reliable choice. Pixel snarfed it down in about 30 seconds, and ate some tuna as well, and is keeping it all down so far. Noisette got some of the leftovers, too. I hope a feeding or two like that, plus the freedom from the cone, will kick-start kitty systems and get us a smoothly-recovering cat.

Current Location: J8Y 3E7
Crossposts: http://metawidget.livejournal.com/177021.html

Pixel only seems to like treats at the moment, so she is getting mass quantities of them. Talked with the vet this morning: we're going to take off the cone collar and see if she's nice to her stitches; the collar may have been cramping her style enough that she went off food. We have a kitty buffet set out for her, and she's looking a little more interested in it. Also, I now have our vet's cell number if we need it.

Current Mood: hopeful
Current Location: J8Y 3E7
Crossposts: http://metawidget.livejournal.com/176667.html

So, Pixel went in for corrective eyelid surgery on Tuesday to keep some ingrown hairs from scratching up her cornea. Since then, she hasn't been eating or drinking a whole lot. We've tried tempting her with wet food and cat treats, and she eats dainty little portions of those, and seems a little offended by the water bowl. She's acting a little extra-clingy and low energy, too, like sick cat. A few more hours of this, and I guess it's time to call the vet.

Current Mood: stressed
Current Location: J8Y 3E7
Crossposts: http://metawidget.livejournal.com/176150.html

Oscar is six months old today! He's inch-worming around on all fours, grabbing everything, and a bit sniffly these days, as am I. In a couple of weeks, the birthing centre is having their semi-annual potluck, and we get to show him off to many of the awesome people who helped out through his gestation and delivery.

Pixel had some sedation dentistry done on Tuesday to remove a bunch of tartar. She seemed a little stoned when we got her back, but now she's back to normal except her breath is a lot less horrifying. She does have some residual gingivitis and conjunctivitis (her eye was what go all this vetting started), so she's on pills and eye drops for about two weeks to try and clear those up. Sweet and suggestible cat that she is, she still comes when I squeak at her for eye drops and a chance at cat treats with hidden pills (for now, drops are QID, pills are BID).

Current Location: J8Y 3E7
Crossposts: http://metawidget.livejournal.com/170530.html

Tonight, I tried Barbãr Bok, from a water glass, with plain potato chips over a game of Dominion.

The beer has some head and a modest carbonation, and is — as would be expected for a beer with 2.5% honey — sweet, and malty. I also noticed little notes of fruity, like white grape. Although the label includes an impressive list of ingredients including bitter oranges and hops, there's not much bitter. The beer is smooth and tasty. I think drinking it unaccompanied or with a light, savory snack is probably the best way to go.

In other news, after noticing that Pixel enjoyed chasing the ribbon suspended from it, we managed to give a mylar balloon from the baby shower on Saturday nearly neutral buoyancy by tying extra ribbon, a bell and some masking tape to it. The world needs more neutral buoyancy cat toys (and by cat toys, I guess I have to include all people present in the broad category of "cat").

Current Mood: content
Current Location: J8Y 3E7

I'm writing from the couch with Pixel the Relatively New Cat lying on my legs. She's kind of the Ernie to Noisette's Bert: sociable, talkative, stripey and drives Noisette a little crazy. They're getting along a bit better than they did at first, though.

I'm in my second week of a two-week vacation: Elizabeth's music school shuts down for two weeks in the summer, and my projects are all long-term enough that two weeks in the summer without me won't kill them, so we co-ordinated. Happily, Kaleioscope Gathering was also on, and so we hopped on our (fully-loaded with panniers and a trailer full of gear) bikes and went out to Planatagenet or thereabouts to camp under soft pines, participate in a communal camp kitchen, learn about partner yoga, thai massage, herbs, relationships, vocal techniques and esoteric stuff, hang out with fun pagans and pagan-friendly people, acquire a thumb piano, and attract most of the security on duty to our campsite — with rumours of chocolate fondue. Like

teinm_laida was reporting, people there for the most part have their guard down and are their genuine, enjoyably weird selves.

The garden is doing really, really well. The exciting bits lately are red Russian kale coming up where the spinach was, and a zucchini patch that wants to take over the world. Also of note are the beginnings of a blackberry patch behind the compost!

I commented with "words" over at

stateofwonder's journal, and she gave me five words to riff on:

( biking • Quebec • Scrabble • Mathematics/Statistics • home cooking )

Well, it seems that this time last year is still on the first page of my Livejournal — I guess I'm a little uncommunicative on here. I hope a few more meaty updates will be in the near future, as well as the traditional good/blah table for all your point-form needs…

Current Mood: awake
Current Location: J8Y 3E7

So, I sign up for e-bills and check the "send me e-mail when bills arrive" option in March. I keep getting enough paper bills to impart a feeling of keeping up, but my phone/Internet bill keeps piling up in my e-bill thing without a single e-mail. Three days before they pull the plug, I call to change some stuff and am informed that they can't do anything until I shovel a heap of money their way.

I pay the CIBC service fees to do stuff like notify me when they recieve e-bills. And maintain branches (they always close the ones close to me soon after I arrive in a neighbourhood). The CIBC can't manage this. I'm switching banks (I'm thinking ~~Desjardins~~ RBC (Desjardins horror stories seem to abound, and there's an RBC right near my place)... any horror stories I should know about?)

In good news, Noisette is back from whatever dimension she was hiding in. Lost cat situation over (for now).

Current Mood: aggravated

I'm at my freshly almost-organized desk in Verdun... we're still weaving among boxes and unassembled or migratory furniture, but the place is starting to feel like home: here I can cook, sleep, work, eat, bathe... the works! It's big enough to give me a little elbow room, and generally bright and comfortable. It's also big enough that I don't know if Noisette has snuck off into the wilds of Verdun or is just hiding behind something:

rottenfruit and I can't find her, but there's just a lot of hiding room in an 8½. I hope she gets hungry and either turns up at the door or comes out from whatever crevice she's in (or at least makes some noise so we can pull her out)...

Current Mood: calm
Current Music: 1vs0. "Miserere Take 59" from Long Overdue.

Managed to wonk my shoulder again (first time in five months or so) in the supermarket. It wasn't too painful, but it still sucks. I did it in front of a guy who also had recurring shoulder dislocations. He stood there and talked to me, and winced when I popped it back in. My forearm aches now.

I just realized that if Noisette has a full cat lifetime, she'll be with me into my thirties or even early forties. How's that for life-changing decisons? And feeling old?

I think, all things going more or less as I predict, I'll be financially stable on paper (as well as in reality) in a couple of weeks, delinquent roommate contributions or no. That could be very good.

Current Mood: mixed
Current Music: Nine Inch Nails. "Every Day Is Exactly the Same". from With Teeth.

OK, you've done the huge MIT survey, now help

almond_tiger in her lower-fi quest for enlightenment:

http://www.livejournal.com/users/almond_tiger/608843.html

I spent last week getting installed and setting up the apartment. The place is pretty much under control... bookcases to rebuild, extension cords to lay out, but it's starting to look more habitable.

My Dad's birthday was on Thursday... us siblings got him a bright yellow ukelele and songbook, and Mum painted him a big watercolour card and repaired his favourite necklace.

Last week, Elizabeth was in Ottawa and Toronto. I missed her like crazy, but kept busy with apartment stuff, Frontier, D&D, talking art, and heading home briefly. Now she's back, and we had a chance to catch up, play some Scrabble and bring

feygele some stiff opposition at the get-together at l'Utopik yesterday. One game each for him and me... the rivalry continues! One of these days, I'll meet Pumpkin the cat, who I'll be adopting for a couple of weeks while

feygele is out of town.

In fiscal news, got started on recovering that account of rent and bills I've been chasing after. It feels good to see that number go down and know that I'll probably be able to get it to zero amicably.

The next couple of weekends are on the road for me: first a weekend camping trip with Elizabeth, then my cousin's wedding. Looking forward to both of those!

Life is good, looking forward to camping and writing and seeing more of people I like.

Current Mood: bouncy
Current Music: The Cure. "Just Say Yes." from Greatest Hits

I swear, I found her like this.

I swear, I found her like this.

Current Mood: amused

Did some cleaning and vacuuming, and now the cat is poking around nervously at her new, emptier space.

Current Mood: accomplished
Current Music: Queens Of The Stone Age. "Six Shooter." from Songs For The Deaf

Took Noisette for vet visit 2 of 3 today... booster shots and pre-surgery consult. By the end of the break, she'll have a cute shaved tummy, no pregnancy worries, and be done with the vet for a while.

In other news, one of my friends is moving in with her significant other, leaving a lease to be assigned... and seeing as this place is looking like it'll be untenable with roomies moving out and all at the end of the year, and seeing it's probably about time I get to live on my own for a while... I'll be moving in in July, I think. Lease assignment is great.

Work is copious these days, I think I'm going to have to refuse a difficult client's front-end to back-end suturing job: second round of clarifications and it is becoming clear I am talking to a delegate of a delegate and understanding is completely absent at the footsoldier level of his company. I'd pass him on to a friend, except I kind of like my friends. I think I need to leave him to his own devices.

This looked fun, so I yoinked it from

dzuunmod — my friends list in pictures, hand re-coded just a bit:

( friends collage )

Current Mood: chipper
Current Music: Zelda from across the hall

Slow day, glad that LJ's FiletMignon cluster is back up... read, programmed a little, slept...

Yesterday was medical stuff all morning: vaccinations for Noisette, a physio consultation for me and my wayward shoulder... so I now have a bunch of exercises to tide me over and a return visit next week. The guy who was sizing things up says I have no lack of flexibility -- in a sense, the damaged shoulder's a little too flexible, and what I've got to do is repurpose the muscles in there to be ready to offer quick and effective resistance before the shoulder joint gets too far out of whack in an iffy movement. Thank the GSA for seeing fit to provide supplementary health care benefits to their members...

Last night, spent the afternoon and evening with

rottenfruit, pan-fried tofu and a few veggies on steamed rice for supper, went to wish my high-school-forward friend Jake many happy returns over pints, discussed really nasty army slang. Resolved never to be involved in any way in a "strawberry milkshake."

Current Mood: relaxed

Christmas was nice, with family and lots of food and some downtime mixed in with the running around in circles making stuff ready. Noisette got on surprisingly well with four other cats, two dogs and miscellaneous bumbling humans. My family and friends gave me some nice stuff, much of which was either delicious or put into grateful use already... you know you're getting older when socks are truly appreciated due to the chance to rotate some holey ones out. That and when you actually see the grey hairs that various people have pointed out.

Got back into the city on the 27th, let the cat bolt from the enclosed space of my nifty new pet carrier (thanks, Mum!) to the enclosed-ish space of under my bed... got together with some of the high school crowd for coffee and D&D. Yesterday was correspondence, sorting out some issues with Bell, then an enjoyable afternoon and evening... tea in good company (two-thirds random but much appreciated good company), a walk in the snow hand in hand (for safety reasons, of course — it's slippery down there by the river) and an visit with supper, baby pictures and feeling a decade or so younger afterward. Today was work, picking up a hacksaw for the Great Bicycle Liberation, and mucking with the DHCP on the wireless... and the exclamation "what?! it's eight already!"

Life manages to be wonderfully off the rails even on vacation. Heh.

Current Mood: happy
Current Music: Lucinda Williams. "Get Right With God." from Essence

Journeyed out to the Plateau (doubling back for the cat carrier — predictably I forgot something) this evening, to pay a visit to

goddessofjoi and adopt her kitten, Noisette, into a building where the superintendant is a little laxer on the pet front. After modified fudgee-os and grapefruit juice, we waited for the Noisette to get used to the idea of me and emerge from her hiding place, sorted out her food and toys and litter box, and coaxed her into the cat carrier with a length of red string. An emotional goodbye, followed by an exit made a little faster by the scrabblings inside the cat carrier, and a short metro journey home....

It’s now a couple of hours later, Noisette has the run of my room and has her stuff set up in a low-traffic corner, and she’s pretty much settled in, batting the red string dangling from my pocket around, satisfied (it seems) with the lay of the land. She hasn’t jumped on me yet, but she sticks around to be petted or to slink around my ankles, she’s checked out the new placement of her food, and she hasn’t found anything loose and destroyable yet...

I think this adoption was a good idea!

Pictures to follow... they’re on film, so they take a little while...

Current Mood: thankful
Current Music: Finkleman's 45s on CBC Radio One

I usually don’t remember them, but last night I dreamt that I had cleaned up my room in preparation for recieving a kitten and that I was saving up to help a friend get surgery... “in four months we should be good to go.”

Hello kitty, goodbye medicare?

I’ll have to say, I’m really looking forward to the cat, and I felt really good to be imaginarily contributing to reducing pain and suffering.

I pick up the cat, Noisette, this afternoon.

Current Mood: jubilant

It’s been a good weekend — art opening on Friday night at Galérie l’Espace (it’s still open ‘til Tuesday... 19 prints and printy intstallations from up and coming artists), went, saw that, ran into a bunch of people from my print media days at Concordia (many of whom have been crawling around the same woodwork as me: Luke and Miriam in particular), went for beers and a large Giovan poutine at Copacabana (I hadn’t gotten around to eating since breakfast, a large was necessary) afterwards was hit on relentlessly by this thirtysomething antique-collector and bistro-guy... I guess I should be flattered ... caught and talked with Mike from Île Sans FIl about the wifi scene, video games and politics.

Saturday was cleaning, unsuccessful costume engineering, then a Birthday Incident for

emjayne with food, vaguely familiar people, new LJites to watch (welcome

goddessofjoi,

kidlicious73 and

balistic... I’m sure I’ve met Balistic before, maybe at

cuz_mary_jane’s birthday do? ... and if anyone knows the username associated with Glenn [?] the sci-fi editor ... ) ... I have a lead on a cat, Noisette, who we may adopt over here in a week’s time or so.

Today [yesterday now]... marking, more cleaning, reading, procrastinating on the five hundred ideas flying in loose formation that is our prototype...

Today [now-today]... exam invigilation, class, give lab, meeting, program, mark.

I feel a ~~little~~ lot off kilter, still. But still going... like bicycling downhill on one of those ice cream bikes (which — useless trivia — I have done without injury from time to time). Friends, fun and work are all much appreciated these days.

Whee.

Current Mood: weird

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